Better Than Petty Thieves, Right?
by starrynightly
Summary: Tom and Shizuo, a dynamic duo of amateur thieves, escape from the Royal Guard of Shinjuku with stolen loot and fled into the forests. They thought they made it past the point of capture until they were capture by pirates. Shizaya, AU, Part 11 Kink Meme.
1. Fugitives

The sky was akin to a crow's fine plumage, lined with shining, beady, white eyes. The night shrouded over the small kingdom were it housed a rich, tyrannical king and his skillfully crafted jewels. Previously stolen, of course. The scene now was that two men were running for their lives away from the corrupted Royal Guard of Shinjuku. Not a soul was outside in the market roads, for it was curfew, and they had barracaded themselves within their homes. They listened to the suspenseful race of the fleeing men and the intimidating gallops of running horses as the noises grew louder, then fainter as if nothing happened.

Both amateur thieves darned not to look back in dead fear of being trampled to death, or worse. Their hearts pounded unremorsefully against their ribcages, and uneven, harsh panting accompanied them. Their breath came out in what seemed like small fogs to accent the chilly air that nipped their skin with icy bites. The pair struggled as overused muscles began to strain, and with horror, the blonde thief noticed his brunette partner was lagging behind. The Guard steadily advanced, and they could hear the yowls of the wicked men.

The blonde thief's amber eyes grew uncharacteristicall wide, then narrow as he tried to sought the kingdom's boundary. If they could reach past it and into the forest, they'll lose the guards. But with the determined pace the Royal Guard had set themselves, it would be impossible without some sort of distraction. Distraction, distraction . . . Amber eyes darted everywhere, and they locked onto a large market stand not too far from the thieves that could easily block the narrow road if it could. They ran slightly past it.

Resolutely, his hand shot out to grab his partner's wrist, and he lunged him forwards ahead of himself. He heard the man with brunette dreadlocks gasp loudly in surprise, and mostly for air to fill his oxygen-starved lungs. He tripped and fell onto the ground, face first, breaking his brown framed glasses with quiet cracks. The blonde thief swiftly turned about and grasped the wooden support beams and partially the table itself, and threw it in front of the road with immense, monstrous strength, effectively cutting off the road. The frightened horses skidded into a halt, and defensively they backed upon their hind legs and neighed in protest. One guard even fell of his stead with a metallic clang and disgruntled groan. But the thieves had no time to listen to the snarling cries of the Royal Guard as they attempted to regain their bearings and race away. The blonde had helped his partner in crime onto his feet and dragged him along.

"My glasses . . . !" The brunette gasped with a forlorn disposition as he blindly outstretched a hand towards his broken spectacles, which grew farther away from the pair. "My glasses!" he repeated. "I can't see without them!"

"Forget about 'em, Tom!" The amber eyed man roared loudly, and his voice seemed to echo throughout the kingdom. He cringed as he realized he had used his partner's real name, yet he continued pushing on, dragging Tom behind, who was quite miserable. Trudging one foot after the other, they desperately seared for the kingdom boundary. And for a fleeting moment, the thought of never finding the boundary flitter through their minds. What if -

The thieves could not complete the disheartening thought as a new dispersal of cavalry wisted sharply around the corner to charge straight at the blonde and Tom. Tom, who had good intuition skills and had anticipated the rattling of the earth and the blurry shapes of horses, yanked on his partner's hand to heel him.

It barely worked, and the blonde stumbled backwards with an indigant yelp. With widened, feral eyes he nearly turned around to snap at Tom, but he did not. He was more focuses on the quickly advancing guards, and his face paled as if he saw Death signing warrants. He froze in terror. Tom tried to shake the blonde out of it insistently, fiercely.

"-zuo! Shizuo, c'mon! The roof . . . !" The strong blonde thief named Shizuo shook the dreaded illusion of death off his shoulders. The Royal Guard was too close, too close for any sort of comfort. With a quick ecouraging push, Tom shoved Shizuo over to the barrels laying near a small home by the window stiles, and he followed suit and fell into the lead. Tom scrambled blindly for handholds, and it was nothing short of a miraculous and a surprising feat it was for him to climb upon the roof with minor difficulty.

As Shizuo fumbled to hop on top of the barrel, one of the cavalry's hourses bit the back of the blonde puffy shirt. Shizuo could not supress the shiver he felt from the beast's breath, and however, he did not fall back to become victim of the trained animal's hooves. The seams of shirt creaked in sorrow before giving a low, purring rip. The energy and weight caused the horse to stagger backwards, and the soldier clung onto his horse by his mane, angering the poor animal. Shizuo growled in anger before he focused on climbing back onto the roof with Tom.

And as soon as Shizuo clambered onto the cracked shingles and reconciled with his shorter partner, they immediately escaped towards the closest destination of the ravenous forest, not too far from there. Shizuo had to help Tom to scale across the buildings in the silence broken only by the hissing, screaming guards. He checked his pocket to see if their loot remained there, and thankfully the large fortune remained stationed where he had stashed it, and the thieves did not dare look back to Shinjuku.


	2. Noise

The duo had managed to escape from the kingdom with difficulty, but in the end they escaped into the forests. Pretty deep into the forests, actually, where Tom and Shizuo settled into an open area with a single log lying solemnly on its own. The woods itself were beautiful in its own natural essense, with the melting, pure snow laced among the thick grasses. Even little creatures could be heard with soft chirps.

The moss on the trees that were powdered in white grew undisturbed as the moon was cradled high in the night sky. Shizuo and Tom were protected from the moonlight's gaze by large overhanging branches. Both men could hardly wait until spring, as they yearned to view the heartening wild flowers and beautiful, baby pink roses. Flowers were even beginning to bud, regardless of the mild winter weather. Shizuo sauntered to the lonely, moss and frost covered log and sat down to relax his sore legs. Tom felt too nervous to relax, and he remained about to pace blindly around the area. It was silent, yet comfortable, but Tom decided to strike a conversation to life.

"I cannot believe you broke my glasses," Tom scolded Shizuo as he nearly bumped into a skinny tree. The mentioned thief merely groaned and rubbed his forehead in mild annoyance. Shizuo pulled his hand away from his face to shoot the other a look.

"We can buy you a new pair as soon as we auction off the king's Bejewelled Belt to the black market," Shizuo grunted before shrugging his broad shoulders, "and with all the money we'll get from those tiny gems, I could buy you a million glasses; we'd be set for life! Besides," Shizuo mused, "you own me like, two, for saving your ass back there."

Tom scoffed and glared at the blonde thief with the eyes of playful contempt - even though he did glance more into the distance full of vines, and not at Shizuo himself. As far as Tom knew, both parties were unharmed except for an innocent pair of glasses, an old, puffy shirt, and perhaps Shizuo's hiding dignity. The man with brunette dreadlocks did not need his vision to know that Shizuo was fondling with the gems of the belt with a heavy heart. Tom retorted subconsiously, "I'm sorry, but, uh, who saved your ass from that second batch of guards? Who broke my glasses? Pfft, who got us into this whole mess in the first place?"

Shizuo winced and felt his cheeks heat from embarrassment, but thankfully Tom could not even pray to see that. Even in the dark.

"Sorry, sorry! Picking that lock frustrated me. Y'know how my job is to divert the guards' attention, not some stealth shit," he admitted before he glanced at his traitorous hands. "I just . . . have a tough time controlling my anger 'n strength - can't help it." Shizuo grinned sheepishly. "But hey, we're alive and well, and we stole the treasure fit for kings - literally!"

"Fine, but you at least owe me one!" He held out a single finger at, what he assumed to be his partner, to a random tree. Shizuo's eyebrow quirked in agitated amusement.

"Consider that debt done once I get ya some specs." Tom twisted around to the true source of the other thief's voice before he laughed heartily.

"Right," he sighed and nodded before shifting on one leg to another anxiously. His head jerked towards the side to cast his gaze off into the distance. "Maybe we should continue to Ikebukuro."

"Shizuo mulled it over for a brief minute before nodding in mutual agreement. He hoisted himself onto his feet and returned the stolen loot into his trouser pocket. "The beach can't be far from here," the blonde began, "and we can follow along it all the way to Ikebukuro, I guess. 'Bukuro's along the beach, ain't it? I can't remember; it's been such a long time since I've been there . . ."

Tom shook his head and buried his face into the palm of his right hand; he could not repress the sigh bubbling in his throat. "For someone born and raised in that gigantic city, you don't invest much attention into its geography," Shizuo sneered, "but yeah, it's on the beach. Kinda. Well, I bet you could at least spy it from the beach."

"Then to the beach we go, Tom. Just follow me, and . . . don't trip on any roots or fall into quicksand or some shit, because I ain't gonna help ya."

"Aren't you just the merry-making helper," Tom scorned. Shizuo shot him a toothy grin. But for the first time in a long while, he felt positively giddy from the mere thought of returning home, where he had been away from for over fifteen years.

"Oy, Shizuo, are we lost? Because you seem to be lost," Tom asked for at least what seemed to be the hundredth time. It grated on the poor blonde thief's nerves.

"We aren't friggin' lost. The beach is just farther away than I remember it to be." It was a smooth, yet detectable lie on Shizuo's behalf, and both parties knew he did not know where the exit to this wilderness lied.

Shizuo gave a frustrated sigh as he continued ahead of Tom. Hey, wasn't that the same tree from before? Ah, hell, they all appeared to be the same. The easily-tempered thief grated his teeth from irritation as he felt the beginnings of a migrane pop up on his poor head. The pair trekked forth, pushing the obnoxiously large leaves aside to helplessly attempt to scout for the sandy beach. The frogs and crickets only seemed to escalate in volume, and Shizuo could hardly hear himself think. Actually, he could hear Tom's voice rather well.

"Didja hear that, Shizuo?" Tom mumbled, gancing around the forest, but finding nothing as to what caused the noise. Tom could hardly see, so it did not matter much. "I think I heard something."

The man grimaced in exasperation, "I hear a lot of damned things," he rumbled. "Like crickets and frogs. Nothing but crickets and frogs. Fucking buggers. Hey, are frogs even indigenous to these parts? Shouldn't they be in the swamps or something? It's like some asshole of a higher power decided to rain irritating, annoying, little . . ." Shizuo trailed off as soon as he realized Tom had tuned him out and had focused on something other than his ranting.

The small group of thieves remained uncomfortably quiet as they searched almost frantically for the beach. The only sounds made were from the crickets, frogs, and the unseen beasts of the dense forest.


	3. Vagabonds

_Snap!_

Shizuo twisted around towards the side in a slow halt. Tom bumped into the blonde's back before he released a confused and unamused growl. The blonde did not care to notice this as he carefully scanned the wooden area with widened eyes. He saw nothing but lush green leaves and winding vines hanging amongst the shadowy trees. It took a short moment of time for the suspicious man to discard the sound of a snapping twig in the mental file "imagination". He shrugged indifferently. He continued to trek deeper into the forest, but he was immediately interrupted, and surprised, by the deadly sensation of sharp, cold metal pressed against his throat.

_What the hell . . ._

The thief glared at the unbelievable exhibit of a long, golden cutlass below his chin with narrowed eyes, and even more so at the small human before him. The human was a boy, and he appeared to be a young teenager with blonde hair, michievous eyes, and a catty smirk that ruled his expression. He wore a white, tight shirt with a flamboyant yellow scarf tied around his neck. A purple sash was wrapped around his waist, and Shizuo assumed it was to latch the sword safely away. Yet, he thought it was rather stupid because he had no sheath to house the cutlass. The boy wore ugly, puffy, brown pants, on closer inspection, the pants was actually an old gold color that was held by a thin string. Unsurpisingly, he was barefoot, too.

'_Pirate_,' Shizuo thought with disdain. Pirates were probably the worst villains in this world, the terrors of land and sea; pirates were driven with greed and bloodlust - a horrible combination. But either way, though the amateur thief could easily break the single-edged blade in two, pirates were well known for their criminal, witty life styles, and their incredulous lying ability. Pirates, mostly considered the scum of the boot of royalty, were most likely the bane of the hardworking people. Regardless, Shizuo felt a burning ire in his mind as his partner's name suddenly rushed into the light, but before the outrageous thief could utter a single syllable, the pirate before him spoke.

"The name's Masaomi Kida," he grinned boastfully as he wiggled his cutlass ever so slightly under Shizuo's chin. His voice was boyish, yet as sharp as a dull dagger. Soon after he addressed himself, his face became void of emotion, and Shizuo could blatantly tell he meant serious business. "You're on the Cap'n's turf, don't you know? He doesn't take well to strangers . . . thieves . . . on his stake of land." Shizuo could not keep the scowled at bay as the word "hypocrite" launched through his mind, too. The teen named Kida drawled on, "What do you think we ought to do with them," his face blossumed a wide grin once more, "Mikaaado, buddy-ol' pal of mine?"

Another pirate, another teen Shizuo assumed, appeared almost out of nowhere, yet he had originated from behind the blonde thief. Mikado had a death grip on Tom's dreadlocks, and a silver cutlass to his vulnerable neck as well. Tom's partner would have attempted to save him if it wasn't for the cutlass holding him back. Tom wore a distinct expression of fear on his face, and his eyes darted around, frantic and unfocused, as if he was lost in some horrid nightmare. However, Tom's surprise assailant was nothing short of a pair of innocent blue-gray eyes, raven hair, and an unsure frown. His attire composed of a white shirt, consumed mainly of a turquoise vest, a pair of dirty-tan breeches, and black boots. He seemed quite childish and empty of buccaneer tendancies, yet Shizuo knew better than to trust and judge someone based on a person's appearance.

After a second of silent contemplation, Mikado spoke with a calm and hesitant voice. "I think we should release them."


	4. Article Three

Kida pouted at Mikado's suggestion as he tilted his head towards him to deliver a mock glare in his direction. "We can't just let 'em roam around," the blonde pirate began, "Cap'n's orders are to keep vagabonds off his turf"-he smirked-"by death."

"What, death?" Exclained the frightened Tom, struggling against Mikado's hold. "Death!" He repeated incredulously with a quivering voice. The raven pirate whispered something inaudible to Shizuo and Kida into Tom's ear, and the tanned man calmed down considerably as his chest heaved for mighty puffs of air.

Mikado nodded as more confidence swelled within him, and his grib on his cutlass loosened. "I think they were lost-"

"We are lost," Shizuo interrupted with a hiss of affirmation, and Kida simply rolled his eyes and snorted.

Mikado huffed as he spoke once more, "Yeah. It's not like this group knew what they were doing. They don't even have a compass, or-or a map!" Mikado cried as he scanned the two males' bodies for navigational equipment. "We can't kill them because they did not know the path to . . . wherever it was they were heading!"

Kida, by now, was unamused from his best friend's intolerable ranting. He held up a hand and waggled a finger at the raven. "Article One, Ryuugamine," he scowled, "obey only the Cap'n and his words."

Mikado bit his lip, and before he could retort, Shizuo barked at Kida harshly, "Captain this, Captain that! Who the fuck is he-I want to talk to him and ask him what the hell gives him the big idea that he could send his lackies to ambush wandering people!" Shizuo sneered as his voice rolled through the forest as if it was almighty thunder.

Kida's eyes widened comically and he cursed obscenely, while Mikado smirked haughtily, "Article Three, Masaomi. All people, even those not of the Company, have the right to converse with the Captain."

Shizuo coud feel a vein pop upon the side of his head in mild annoyance. Tom, at some point, relaxed almost completely from the atmosphere made from the banter of the two argumentive pirates. The thieves gave each other side glances, but Tom, once again, looked out into the distance. Shizuo's eyes shifted back to the pirates, and he sighed loudly to grab the teenagers' attention.

Both pirates halted their bickering to stare at Shizuo for a lingering moment. Kida huffed in defeat, but he only tightened his grip on his large sword. ". . . Follow me, you vagamonds," the blonde pirate hissed through grated teeth before he gave Mikado a stern look of disapproval. "We will have to see what the Cap'n has to say about this." The lowered his voice to a whisper meant for Mikado's ears and his ears only.

"_If they die, I get the top bunk._"

It seemed to be only a few measily minutes for the pirates to lead the thieves, who were still held captive via sharp swords, to the sandy beach. The ocean waves rolled gently against the coast in a manner of calm serenity. The moonlight lit the water to create many shades of emotional blue; the moon would soon be release of its cradle, too. From the simple sight of the beach, all four men could examine the geography of the beach, her sand, her oceans, to be shaped into a smooth crescent. On the opposite side of this crescent was a large, stately, intimidating wooden ship. From this angle, the main mast seemed to pierce the night sky, but the crow's nest was lost in the darkness. The sails were tied to their posts diligently, and the boat was astray upon land, but no so much as to claim that the ship was stuck.

Shizuo was awed by the grand spectacle, and he wished Tom could examine the boat; it was a kind of boat unknown to him, but he could tell it was strong from its fine craftsmenship. "Whoa . . ." Shizuo gasped a certain indescribable thrill enter his being. That was until he felt Kida give him a forceful push.

"C'mon, keep goin'!" The pirate growled. "The sooner I prove Mikado wrong, the sooner I get to sleep like a baby." Mikado rolled his eyes at Kida's ridiculous behavior, but the group of pirates and thieves kept walking. This was much to Shizuo and Tom's chagrin; they wanted to rest their pulsing, aching feet and call it a night.

It took at least ten minutes before the bunch arrived at the ship, and ten minutes before Kida began to nag them once more. All of them stood before the boarding plank of the ship. "Board with right foot first! You'll be in a damnable world of trouble if you settle left!" Kida barked. Shizuo wondered why in the world Kida encouraged the lot to begin with their right foot, but he figured it was some freaky pirate-thing.

Before Shizuo boarded the ship, he saw that the large vessel gave off a small light that carressed the sky with its enchanting luminescence. The Captain must be settled upon deck. As Shizuo noticed the light, he also noticed the golden plaque on the side of the pirate ship. The plaque was written in cursive engraving was _The Celty's Head_, however, devastating as it may be, Shizuo could not read.

Shizuo inhaled a deep breath, and walked onto the boarding plank, subconsciously, left foot first.


	5. The Captain

One by one the thieves and pirates boarded the vessel as the murmuring sea pushed through their ears. The Captain was not on deck after all; he was nowhere to be seen and Shizuo released a slow breath that he did not realize he had withheld for quite some time. A single candle sat upon a wooden barrel, the golden stand of its candle caught the lazing wax from rolling onto the tri-cornered hat that sat next to the candle diligently. It was a particularly dangerous spot for the black, used pirate hat to lay, should the parchment ever caught fire, but it was if the hat itself had no worries whatsoever-careless, even. The ship's deck was barren, and Tom and Shizuo figured everyone to be asleep soundly on their hammocks, or, whatever it was pirates slept on.

Shizuo nearly flinched as he heard, not by wailing creak of the ship as she rocked, but from Mikado's soft voice. "Do you think the Captain is in his cabin?" He asked curiously as his eyes glazed eyes bore intently into the candle's yellow fire.

"Well, isn't that just an awful assumption?" Kida groaned teasingly before grinning. He sheathed his cutlass into his violet sash. "He's gotta be close; he wouldn't leave a candle out by its lonesome. Especially not his favorite hat."

"I don't know," Mikado remarked, "Captain Izaya has his quirks . . ."

"Izaya; that's his name?" Tom inquired as he, too, stared at the luminescent blur. Now, Tom was a normally anxious man, sometimes rather easy to frighten, but he felt at ease regardless of Mikado's sharp cutlass proded against the small of his back. Shizuo was not sure if this was a good thing, or . . .

"Cap'n!" Kida shouted, almost as if he intended to rouse the whole crew, as well as the dead. There was no way any other pirates were on this damnable boat, with the volume he set himself upon, Shizuo thought. "Caaap'n! You're requested on deck!" Kida waved towards the Captain's cabin frantically with both of his skinny arms. He stopped waving after a few seconds. "That's queer. That usually gets him down here in the matter of a shot or two of rum."

Mikado scowled, "That's for when the Captain's awake, stu-" the ravenette squeaked as he saw Tom flinch in surprise when a long rope plopped onto the ground right in front of him. The rope curled neatly onto the floor in a loop. Everyone gaped in awe as they witnessed a raven man come sliding down the rope easily from out of the darkness with the protection of black gloves. The male's inch-heel boots landed on the floor with a thick 'clop'. The man was of slight build and he was shorter than Shizuo, yet as tall as Tom and taller than Mikado and Kida. Izaya, Shizuo assumed that was his name, wore nothing but black attire, such as a long leather trench coat that had cut by the top his knee-high boots.

He even wore a black shirt, and equally black trousers that were stuffed into his boots. Shizuo could clearly see where Kida had acquired his catty smirk, yet Izaya stood rigid and tense. His posture was gave Shizuo the impression he was not to be triffled with. The Captain was considerably young, and he proudly owned a pair of ruddy brown eyes which were ever so dazzling.

The man rose a delicate brow, and he spoke with the most proper English that had ever graced the thieves' ears, yet his words were not for them. "Disobeying my orders?" He asked. His accent seemed familiar, but unidentifiable. It suited him, along with the calculating glare he sent to his underlings, and not at Shizuo nor the poor mister Tom that stood right before him.

"Th-they requested audience with you, sir," Mikado stammered.

"Well, I'm disappointed in the both of you for not eliminating them before they requested so!" The Captain snapped at the raven through Tom, and the tanned man dared not to tremble before the dangerous male. ". . . Especially when you have yet to hoard all their valuables, of course!" Izaya's face broke out into a toothy grin.

Shizuo, whose eyes had widened from hearing such a sly remark coming from those pale lips, yelped as Kida forcefully fished the king of Shinjuku's Bejewelled Belt from his pocket. The little wazzock tossed Tom and Shizuo's retirement to Izaya, who caught in his hands, and Mikado dug into Tom's pockets, but found nothing. Izaya's head tilted in surprise, and with a faint trace of impressment as he stared at the colored jewels with admiration. He stroked the gems fondly.

Izaya, to spite Shizuo, snapped the golden belt around his lithe waist on the outside of his trench coat. The Bejewelled Belt hung loosely around his hips, and one side was hiked higher than the other. Izaya took a step back and grabbed the rope he sled down from. He gripped and leaned onto it as if it were a life-line, or rather, as if he were a small child hanging of his mother's dress.

His eyes were closed in enjoyment, and he wore a provocative smirk on his face, "Now, thieves, let us converse."

Thus, a hatred for this man was born.

** Okay, appparently I was dead for like . . . a little over a month, and I apologize. Unfortunately, I *am* one of those off/on authors. DX**

** But, I guess you could blame me for stalking the kink memes, and I found this beautiful Shizaya request that involves pirates! However, this is one of the reasons I was gone for so long, along with school work. I apologize for this too. :\**

** And don't worry, I'm not stopping Loathsome Consideration! I suppose I just needed a break. Usually, I don't enjoy writing anything over the weekends because I do all my writing during school when I have some time. I feel unmotivated updating the stories over the weekend, and I guess this time it dragged out for a long while.**

** Hey, good news, I'm back, and with another Shizaya story!**

** Bad news, updates will not be regular, and I'll probably focus more on this one, especially since this was a prompt I'm filling for the kink meme.**

**Love you all! **

**~Starry Nightly**


End file.
